Elements of Photography: Air

Sep 15, 200820 min read

Deviation Actions

Published: Sep 15, 2008

1.7K Views

Air.

Humans can generally survive for three weeks without food.

Three days without water.

Three minutes without air.

The significance of air to the continuation of our lives is astonishing. And yet, in today’s world, the amount of time that most people spend thinking about this element probably doesn’t even surpass the amount of time that we’d survive without it.

Centuries ago, the classical element of air was viewed as a universal power—a pure substance. The sheer importance of air to life on this planet has even been rooted in the English language. The words spirit, inspire, expire, and aspire are all derived from the root word spirare, which in Latin means “to breathe.”

The word Air is actually defined as a mixture of nitrogen, oxygen, and minute amounts of other gases that surrounds the earth and forms its atmosphere.

But air can be so much more than that.

The wind, the heights of our imaginations, our very breath..

The element of air can be represented by many things.

Sky

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Upon hearing the word air, most people will immediately visualize the vast expanse of blue above our heads—the sky. Both during the day and the night, the sky is an infinite source of inspiration. No matter where you live, where you were born, where you may be right now—if you are reading this, you have known the beauty of the sky.

Humans have always looked toward the sky with a sort of distant yearning. We envy birds of flight, and build our little flying machines in cheap imitation.

We were never meant to belong in the sky.

Maybe that’s why we want to be there so badly.

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“I saw a star, I reached for it, and I missed. So I accepted the sky.” ~ Scott Fortini

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“Thank God men cannot fly,

and lay waste the sky as well as the earth.” ~Henry David Thoreau

Wind

The invisible force that runs through your hair—
the natural movement of the molecules in the air.

Throughout history, the wind has been incorporated into mythology, provided a source of electricity, and even changed the course of history. Seafaring, air travel, and even the details of our daily lives are all affected by the movement of the wind.

Wind can be as gentle as a caress upon one's cheek.

On the other hand, wind can deliver merciless destruction in times of storms, easily surpassing 200 miles per hour. Tornadoes are widely viewed as the most extreme example of the power of the wind—but words cannot express the pain and anguish that has been experienced by the victims of these forces of nature.

Wind is powerful. Very, very powerful.

No wonder there is an entire industry devoted to harnessing its strength.

Poetry is the impish attempt to paint the color of the wind.
~ Maxwell Bodenheim

“Wisdom sails with wind and time.” ~ John Florio

Breath</u>

“Breath is the bridge which connects life to consciousness, which unites your body to your thoughts.” ~ Thich Nhat Hanh

Breath, the essence of existence. The surest sign of consciousness, animation, life.

Your breath also gives rise to your voice, and to the playing of instruments, too.

Breath is the foundation of music as well as life.

The ancient Hawaiians believed that one's breath was sacred—a concept that is vaguely recognized in today's society. When two people shared their breath in a greeting, the two were considered to be eternally connected. Our entire lives are contained in our breath, and that great miracle leaves us the moment we cease breathing.

Breath literally represents existence and spirit—a true element of air.

“Ancient lovers believed a kiss would literally unite their souls, because the spirit was said to be carried in one's breath.” ~ Eve Glicksman

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“Music, the mosaic of the air.” ~ Andrew Marvell

“You have a choice. Live or die. Every breath is a choice. Every minute is a choice.

To be or not to be.” ~ Chuck Palahniuk

“To photograph is to hold one's breath, when all faculties converge to capture fleeting reality. It's at that precise moment that mastering an image becomes a great physical and intellectual joy.” ~ Henri Cartier-Bresson

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Human Analysis</u>

Apart from the great attention to the importance of human breath, the general element of air has received a much wider range of observations from historic cultures.

The Wicca culture highly revered the natural elements, and assigned many attributes to the element of air. Air was associated with the east, the pastel color yellow, the suit of Wands in tarot, woodwind instruments, childhood, and birds.

People who are born under the astrological signs of Libra, Gemini, and Aquarius are also considered to have dominant personality traits associated with air, including kindness, intelligence, and helpfulness.

Air is an element of the mind.

Thoughts, ideas, imagination, dreams, and possibilities.. Many people have failed to consider that the human mind itself can represent air. The limitless capabilities that intelligence has afforded the human race rivals the height of the sky and the power of the wind—it coexists with the soul contained in our breath.

In a sense, we have always known the element of air.

That, too, could be a reason why we long to reach the sky—why we continue to refine our airplanes, hot air balloons, and other flying machines—why we seek thrills from the immense height of carnival rides.

Maybe we were born to be a part of the air.

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“Imagination is the air of [the] mind.” ~ Philip James Bailey

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“Reason can answer questions, but imagination has to ask them.” ~ Dr. Ralph Gerard

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“Imagination is more important than knowledge.

For knowledge is limited to all we now know and understand, while imagination embraces the entire world, and all there ever will be to know and understand.”

~ Albert Einstein

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“Nothing limits achievement like small thinking; nothing expands possibilities like unleashed imagination.” ~ William Arthur Ward

“The air is full of ideas. They are knocking you in the head all the time.

You only have to know what you want, then forget it, and go about your business.
Suddenly, the idea will come through.

It was there all the time.” ~ Henry Ford

Conclusion</u>

“Our most basic common link is that we all inhabit this small planet.
We all breathe the same air. We all cherish our children's future.

And we are all mortal.” ~ John Fitzgerald Kennedy

To the extraordinary photographers who captured the element of air in every way;

Thank you.